The Hedgehog and the Tornado
by Falconess
Summary: Who says hedgehogs can't fly? A one-shot about Sonic.


Arcs of water sprayed out behind Sonic the Hedgehog as he swerved across the surface of the lake. He looped around again and again, laughing as he skidded to a stop on the shore. He turned to watch his masterpiece in action, grinning at the overlapping waterfalls when something bright caught his eye.

Sonic tilted his head slightly and stepped a few paces left. Hmm... Yep! There was something up on the edge of the cliff. He squinted but couldn't make out what it was. From this distance all he could make out was that it was something metallic, reflecting the light of the setting sun.

Well, whatever it was, he would know in just a few seconds.

The water had barely begun to settle into waves before the speeding hedgehog blasted back across its surface, this time heading straight towards the towering cliffs on the other side. There was a winding path leading up to the top of the cliffs, but Sonic took a more direct route, running straight up the wall instead.

He had to leap the last couple feet to reach the top, but his hands caught the ledge and he pulled himself up, nearly losing his breath when he saw what awaited him.

He whistled as he stood up.

The biplane was wedged between two tree trunks, covered in vines that had probably grown over it since it crash-landed. He looked down the path it had taken. It had knocked down quite a few trees, but it had been long ago because there were already new ones growing in their place. Maybe a couple years, at least.

Sonic couldn't believe anybody would just abandon something as big as a plane, or worse that they'd just leave it here to rot and leak chemicals everywhere. He frowned. It didn't even look that badly damaged; after all, it still had its wings. The propeller was bent all out of shape but if he had a hammer...

He pictured himself in the pilot seat, wearing goggles and a scarf, wind blasting through his quills, soaring over the landscape, flying through the looping arches that made up his home, even doing a couple dangerous tricks that would make his animal friends cheer.

Sonic's mind raced ahead, his imagination planning out what he would need to get this plane flying again. Within a few more seconds his mind was made up and he spindashed at it, snapping it free from the clinging vines.

Five minutes later he had it free from the tree trunks as well and ducked his head under its hood, checking out the engine. Amazingly everything looked intact. True, Sonic was no mechanic and he had never seen the inside of a plane engine before, but really, how hard could it be to learn?

Three weeks later Sonic was still working on his biplane.

It took him two days alone just to drag the biplane down along the narrow pathway down to the beach. Sonic refused to give up though, even when the weather turned into a downpour, soaking him and getting his favorite sneakers (and most of his body) covered in mud. Nope, once Sonic set his mind on something he wouldn't give up, no matter what.

Sonic had discovered a tattered owner's manual inside the cockpit, but he found that there was a lot more about planes that he didn't understand. Regardless he had tracked down a book specifically about biplanes and set to work. Actually things had been progressing pretty smoothly, except for one small problem.

"It'll never fly!"

Sonic rolled his eyes, but didn't step down from his makeshift ladder or even turn around to face the speaker. He didn't need to look; he knew exactly who it was and it made his blood boil.

This goose had been making himself a nuisance for the past week, doing nothing but hurling insult after insult. And apparently he hadn't gotten his fill yet because he was back yet again.

"Hey! Hedgehog! Hello! I'm talking to you!"

Sonic continued to ignore him, but the goose persisted, making his voice louder and louder. Finally Sonic's tolerance of this menace dried up.

"Don't you have anything better to do than bug me?" It was the first time Sonic had actually spoken back to him. The goose seemed shocked at first, but recovered rather quickly.

"Didn't you know," he said with a sly grin, "if hedgehogs were meant to fly, you would have been born with wings, like me!" The goose laughed at his own joke, flapping his own wings and circling just out of Sonic's reach.

"And if you were meant to think, you'd have been born with brains, like me."

"What's that?" The goose landed on the biplane's wings, glaring down at him.

"You heard me, now shoo. Go fly south or something." He waved his wrench at him.

Sonic smirked as the goose's face turned bright red. How's it feel being on the receiving end, Sonic thought.

"You brought it on yourself," Sonic said, turning back to his work.

"You can't talk like that to me!"

"I just did-Hey!" The goose yanked the wrench right out of his hands.

He circled above Sonic, taunting him with: "Let's see you fly now!"

"Give that back!"

"Or what? You gonna come up here and make me, hedgehog?"

Sonic clenched his fists as the goose laughed at him.

That was it. The last straw.

"Maybe I will." Sonic slammed down the hood and hopped into the cockpit, kicking away his ladder.

The goose continued to laugh, "Are you serious?"

Sonic smirked as he flicked the engine switch and it roared to life, the propeller beginning to spin rapidly. He unlocked the throttle and took a breath before shoving it forward, right towards the goose.

"Ack! You're crazy! Just quit while you're still alive!" He threw the wrench back at him. Sonic reached up and caught it, shoving it safely into the cockpit.

"Sonic the Hedgehog never quits," he said, pulling back on the throttle. "Now get outta my way!"

The goose barely dodged the propellers as the plane rushed past, clipping some of his feathers clean off.

"You're insane!"

Sonic's stomach somersaulted as an invisible force began to raise his plane up off the ground. For a moment his ascent lulled, the plane dipping. He was afraid he had just signed his own death certificate, but then he felt a rush as the force returned, raising him higher into the sky.

Sonic let out a victory whoop, shoving up his fist in triumph. He laughed as he soared higher and higher, leaving the ground far, far below.

While he didn't have goggles or a scarf, he could still feel the rumbling wind whipping through his quills - just as it always did when he was running at full speed. Only this was so different. He gasped as he passed through a low cloud. He leaned out over the side and looked down. The view was even better than he had imagined. Everything and everyone was so tiny!

It wasn't until an alarm in the cockpit interrupted his daydreaming that he realized two very important things: One, he was running low on fuel; two, he hadn't read the chapter about landing a plane yet. Sonic reached under his seat, but when his fingers brushed nothing he remembered he had left the book about flying back down on the ground. Sonic slapped his forehead.

"Oh well, live and learn," he said as he started to look for a flat place to land. It wasn't as if he was in any immediate danger; until he discovered the third problem.

A wide, anvil-shaped cloud system was approaching him. The world behind it was a stark contrast to the clear skies behind Sonic. He winced as he saw lightning illuminate the sky ahead. It didn't take a mechanical genius to figure out what would happen if the plane got struck by a stray bolt: barbeque hedgehog. Sonic gulped and immediately began to turn the plane around.

The storm moved faster and within moments the sky above him darkened as the sun was blocked out by the dark clouds. At first the rain only came in sprinkles but as the storm surged further ahead of him the rain turned cold and harsh. Now Sonic really wished he had a scarf and goggles. Apparently they weren't just for looks.

Thunder boomed nearby, shocking him so much that he jerked the throttle forward, the plane diving straight down towards one of the many stone loops dotting the landscape. He knew he wouldn't be able to pull up out of the dive quickly enough without stalling the engine so he leaned the plane sharply to the right. One of the wheels grazed the edge of the loop, rocking the plane about. Sonic fought to regain control, finally leveling off. It was too dark and too hard to see where to land. Another lightning strike flashed ahead and Sonic realized he was quickly running out of options. He might just have to fly near a loop and jump off the plane.

But, no, he just couldn't abandon it! He had worked so hard on it - and now that he had gotten a taste of flying, he couldn't give that up. Not over some stupid storm! Hadn't he faced worse standing up to that creep, Dr. Robotnik? What was a little storm compared to giant killer robots? Nothing, that's what! Sonic grinned. He'd get out of this yet.

The rain let up and Sonic relaxed a little. The winds died down too until all he could hear was the roar of the engine. The lightning seemed to have stopped, or at least he couldn't hear the thunder anymore. He looked around. A couple of the quills on his head stood up straight. Something was very wrong. He didn't know what exactly but something bad was about to happen. Call it hedgehog intuition, if you want. Either way, it had never let him down before.

By the time Sonic looked over his shoulder a wisp of cloud had begun to twist down from the main storm cloud. His eyes widened as it began to take shape, reaching down towards the ground like a ghostly finger. He had seen plenty of them at a distance before, but this was the first time he had ever been this close to an actual tornado.

"Don't panic," he told himself turning back around, "It's probably just a little one. No big deal."

Except when he turned back around a few moments later, it was becoming a big deal, very quickly. Sonic scanned the ground, looking for anywhere that might allow him to land without breaking his neck. If he could just get to the ground he could outrun it, no problem. But up here, well, he was a sitting duck, much as he hated that metaphor right now.

"No choice, I have to land," Sonic said. "Ready or not ground, here comes Sonic!"

The plane dove down, Sonic trying hard to hold down his lunch. He was a few hundred feet above the ground when the tornado caught up to him. He yelped as the tunnel of wind dragged his plane into its vortex. Sonic lost all sense of time and space, the plane barrel rolling in the winds as huge chunks of debris rammed into the plane and rushed past it. The noise increased to a deafening rumble and all Sonic could do now was hold on. His last thought before he passed out was a simple one: it can't end this way... 

* * *

><p>Sonic opened his eyes, his head throbbing. He reached up and felt a sizable bump on his forehead. He shifted and realized he miraculously hadn't broken anything. He was completely intact. He stood up and bumped his head on a thick branch, cursing silently as a bunch of leaves rained down on him. He looked around and, surprisingly, he started to laugh.<p>

The biplane had landed itself in another tree.

"You are some kind of lucky plane," Sonic said, "Speaking of which, I need a good name for you."

One particular name came to mind right away. He couldn't turn it down. He knew nothing else would fit it quite as perfectly.

Sonic patted the dented side of the biplane, which was actually in worse shape than when he first found it. Sonic didn't care though. It was his now. Always would be.

"You and me, Tornado. It was meant to be!"


End file.
